Wentworth - Perry Sandhills - Murray-Darling River Confluence

The Perry Sandhills are named for George Perry, the first Land Commissioner to serve this area. The property is also special because it has a map of a 'new town' then planned to be the Capital of Australia in the early 1900's- it was in the last three places to be considered as the site. The dunes are a unique land formation of continuously shifting sand dunes.
The four hundred acres of rolling red sand hills are geologically traceable to the Barkindji Aboriginal people and the last Ice Age (approx. 40,000 years ago). Aboriginal burial grounds in the vicinity (Snaggy Bend) and the finds of artefacts and fossils of Australia's giant mega-fauna (large bear-animal - diprotodon; huge kangaroo - procoptodon golia. The archaeological 'treasures' indicate the area is the same contemporary time as Mungo National Park - different in that the red sand is highly fertile and only needs is water to produce the grapes & citrus.

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Perry Sandhills dunes have been the location of filming many scenes from both Australian and international films, including "The Man from Snowy River 2", "Burke & Wills", "Flying Doctors" and "Boney". The children's television series "Ocean Girl' and "Thunder Stone" have utilised the Sandhills for scenes as well, and they have been used for television commercials (Toyota Camry- arabs, camels & chooks) Climb the dunes and walk in under the canopy of the Murray River Red Gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) - possibly more than 500 years old. The sand over time has completely covered the trunk (perhaps 15' to 20') - you find yourself in the bower of this age-old tree - a magnificent sight!

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The junction of the Murray and Darling Rivers is where the town of Wentworth began. Capt Charles Sturt arrived at the confluence 23rd January 1830, naming the Murray River here after recognising the end of the Darling. James McLeod and a Mr Bates made camp there around 1840 after explorers such as Thomas Mitchell, in 1836, and overlanders, Joseph Hawdon & Charles Bonney, in 1838 opened the way by using the junction as a 'crossing' for cattle and sheep, to begin the “Sydney/Adelaide Highway”.
Wentworth grew •in strength and prosperity during e Riverboat era because of its position at the confluence of Australia's two greatest rivers and the commencement of the grazing industry. The Murray and Darling River system is the fourth largest river catchment in the world – Wentworth is the confluence of all rivers west of the Great Dividing Range

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Source: Information from Visitor Centre